Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 23rd October - video Dailymotion

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In today's business briefing, Simon and Robyn discuss plans for a hotel next to Everton's new stadium, an X Factor star calling for industry reforms and a special interview with the new innovation secretary.

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00:00Everton Football Club gets a new neighbour, an X Factor star calls for

00:05industry reforms, and we have a special interview with the new Innovation

00:09Secretary. That's what's coming up in today's Daily Business Briefing.

00:19Hi, I'm Simon Keegan. And I'm Robin Hewson. So Robin, I have to admit I was a

00:25little bit jealous of you the other week because you got to go to my favourite

00:28hotel, the Titanic in Liverpool, didn't you, and do the Liverpool Property Awards.

00:33But again, all that area is quite an interesting part of Liverpool, isn't it,

00:38along the Dock Road, because there's always new stuff happening. So what's

00:43happening there just now? Yeah, I mean we did our breakfast there a few months back

00:48at the Liverpool Waterfront and something that came out of that as a really key

00:51project there is Everton's new stadium at Bramley Moor Dock. And you can

00:55literally see it progressing out of the window when you stay at the Titanic,

00:58which is nice. So the latest plans are for a hotel right next to the stadium.

01:02It's going to have spa facilities, things like that, 80 rooms, so plans are

01:07coming along for that. So the site comprises a vacant piece of land and a

01:10Grade 2 listed former mill, which will be converted as part of the development.

01:14So the scheme went before Liverpool's Planning Committee this week and it

01:19received a positive recommendation, so it looks like that's going to be

01:22going ahead. So yeah, somewhere for the football fans to stay. Brilliant, yeah.

01:26I think it's really interesting now with the Titanic Hotel and also with

01:29Everton's football stadium, they've tried to keep that sort of character of those

01:33old dock warehouses, but still obviously they're still really nice

01:38aren't they? So it'll be interesting to see what they do with this hotel and of

01:42course who ends up operating the hotel as well. I think that's something we'll

01:47be keeping an eye on. Definitely. So what's been your top story today?

01:51Well for me, I spoke to a former X Factor star called Katie Waissell.

01:56Oh yeah, I think I remember her. I remember her, she was really good actually.

02:00And she was speaking about the recent death of a good friend of hers, Liam Payne,

02:06from One Direction. They were on X Factor together on the same series and

02:12obviously they bonded over that. But nowadays, Katie runs a company

02:19called OWHL, which is all about championing reforms for that sector, for

02:28the entertainment and creative sector. And she's, after obviously the sad death

02:34of Liam, she's spoken out about the need for there to be greater support. I think

02:40particularly to young artists, I mean she's been through it, she knew what it

02:44was like to get kind of fame at such a young age. But then I think anytime

02:50you're in a position where somebody gets that quick fame, there also needs to be a

02:56duty of care to look after them. So that's what Katie's, you can read about

03:01that story, that's what Katie is working on. And she's looking to get a funding

03:07round so that she can grow the company and so that she can champion that.

03:12So we're now going to go to our Midlands editor, Kurt Jacobs, who is attending

03:17Birmingham Tech Week and he's got a very special interview with us. This is with

03:22the new Science and Innovation Secretary, Peter Kyle, who I haven't heard talk much

03:29since the new government. So they're going to be talking about the need to

03:34attract more investment outside of London, so not just of interest to our

03:39Midlands readers this one, and what would it take to convince these big

03:45investors in Silicon Valley to send their money this way. So Kurt, over to you.

03:51So tell me about how you're going to get more investment in tech, particularly

03:56international investment, from outside of London to the regions. Well the first

04:01thing to say about the West Midlands is you have the best thing to sell in the

04:06first place, and that is talent. It is innovation that's being spun out, it's

04:12being upscaled, it's being recognised. And you have these clusters, these groups of

04:17organisations from investors to the regional authority through to

04:22universities, companies, all working together in really steadfast ways. That

04:27makes it a really easy sell. So I don't want to make out that you need somebody

04:31to go out there and be a great salesman, because good sales relies on great

04:36product, and here in the West Midlands you have so much which is attractive. But

04:41we are in an environment where there are parts of the country that are hugely

04:45attractive to outside investors, simply because it's easy to understand. It means

04:50that we as a government need to make sure that we fully exploit everything

04:55you have and you're achieving here, and get it onto everybody's radar. These

04:59things aren't always easy. What we're doing is making sure when it comes to

05:02planning for example, that locally, you know, your regional mayor will have the

05:06ability to shape communities and make sure that the planning reflects the

05:09priorities you have, so he can shape the economy. Once that starts happening of

05:13course it becomes easier to invest. That in central government, when we are in

05:17these negotiations with global companies about investment, that we're always here

05:21to ensure that the talents you have here, the opportunities you have in different

05:26parts of the country, are fully recognised. And we'll do everything we

05:29can do to make sure that those investors come to parts of the country like the

05:34West Midlands and see all the great activity that's happening here.

05:36You've mentioned inward investments and so forth, but how are you going to

05:40encourage at a lower level? Because one of the challenges we've got is lots of

05:44innovation, but moving from start-up to scale-up has been a real challenge. We've

05:48only got two unicorns in this part of the world and I think we need more. How are you going to

05:52help the base level?

05:54We are an under-capitalised economy right now when it comes to investment. So we've

05:58already started the review, led by Emma Reynolds in government, to try and

06:02unlock the pensions capital, which is being pent up at the moment. The US and

06:07other countries are very good at taking these big investment pots and making it

06:12more investment ready for different parts of the economy. We need to learn

06:16from that experience, always make sure that pensions are cast iron and

06:21they are there to do their core business. But they are big, big sources of

06:25potential capital that we need to put to work for our economy to get growth into

06:28it and make sure that all parts of the country benefit from it. And that's just

06:31one thing that we're doing, to try and get more capital into the economy so

06:36that investors, whether institutional investors or private investors, can have

06:40far more access to bits of the country like this, so that where there is an

06:44innovation, they are spun out, that they don't have to go to the US or other

06:48countries to fully exploit their potential as a business. They can have

06:51that realised here with domestic investment as well.

06:54Last question, this is Jim, the last one. Tell me more about that question you put to potential investors.

06:59What's it going to take you to invest 10 billion in the UK? What are the three issues you say they keep raising?

07:04So I've been around, you know, when I go around the world asking about

07:08investors here, I ask this question about what it would take for another 10

07:10billion. One of the things is the price of electricity and also they want

07:14sustainable electricity because all these companies like Google and

07:17Microsoft and others, they have their own global commitments as well to

07:21sustainable electricity. Planning is a big issue, they're not going to invest a

07:24lot of money if it's going to take 10 years before to get through planning and

07:27actually have connection to the grid. And then regulation, they want to know

07:30that innovation is going to get through the regulatory landscape swiftly so they

07:35can start commercialising it, upscaling it and investing in it. These are the

07:39things that speak to a dynamic economy, a dynamic society, a dynamic government

07:44that we aspire to be. We've been working on it incredibly hard. All of these

07:48things we've spoken about, our government is already actioning in the first three

07:51months of the government. That's why last week you saw this investment summit

07:55where £63 billion was committed to our economy simply because we're

08:00answering those key questions that were always put to us in opposition. We're now

08:04showing with action from government and it's unlocking investment that we need.

08:07Well some really interesting stuff there from Kurt. Really, really good interview.

08:11So if you want to hear more about any of the stories that we've

08:14mentioned today, you can go to our website insidermedia.com and give us a

08:18follow on social media as well. See you next time.

08:25you

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 23rd October

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